Frank Shamrock

- PRIDE USA President Ed Fishman has expressed that he is currently doing everything possible to purchase the PRIDE organization. Fishman feels that the only two people in the running for the organization are the UFC and him.

- Strikeforce and EliteXC have reached a deal which will allow them to co-promote cards on Showtime. Showtime will do a joint broadcast in April when Frank Shamrock and Phil Baroni fight in Strikeforce.

- Tito Ortiz will guest star in NUMB3RS Friday, Feb. 16 on CBS.

- Andrei Arlovski is expected to fight on UFC 70 against Jim York. Mirko Filipovic will also be on the card.

San Jose, CA – Razorclaws coach Frank Shamrock has announced that he will hold open tryouts this weekend for his Shamrock Submission Fight Team in San Jose, California.

The team fields fighters to compete in many of the world’s top MMA organizations, including his IFL squad, the San Jose Razorclaws. Though the team is based in northern California, many of its members live and work elsewhere when not training directly under Shamrock.

Shamrock is apparently looking to fill some gaps in the team that just the past weekend lost a close 3-2 match to his brother Ken Shamrock’s Nevada Lions. Much was made of the rivalry between the two siblings, but the Lions notched the victory despite impressive wins by Razorclaws Clint Coronel and Brian Foster.

The Lions themselves were formed after Ken Shamrock held open tryouts of his own before the season began, but this marks the first time that an IFL coach has opened his gym in the search for new talent after the first event.

The tryouts will be held at the Shamrock Martial Arts Academy in San Jose, California this Saturday and Sunday, January 27-28, between 11 am and 3 pm.

Most notably, Shamrock is looking to fill holes in his light heavyweight division, as well as adding alternates in other weight classes. Fighters of all classes and experience levels are welcome to try out, according to Shamrock’s spokesperson.

Pro Elite has announced the full card for the upcoming Elite Xtreme Combat show. The event will take place February 10th at the Desoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Also the show will air live on Showtime starting at 10 PM EST.

Legends Frank Shamrock, regarded by many to be the first true mixed martial artist in combat sports, and Renzo Gracie, a prominent member of the most famous family in martial arts, will make history when they collide in the featured attraction on Showtime at the Desoto Civic Center in Mississippi. Their match will mark the first time an MMA event has aired live on premium television.

It was announced Thursday that former wrestling superstar, (Bill) Goldberg, and enormously popular television personality, Mario Lopez, would be part of the announcing team. It also was announced that Feb. 10 undercard bouts not televised on Showtime would be streamed live at http://www.EliteXC.com.

Below are selected quotes from Thursday’s press conference. To view the conference in its entirety, please go to EliteXC.com.

“I just signed to fight Phil Baroni on December 8, which is my birthday. I’ll be 34 years old, and I figure the greatest birthday present in the world I can give myself is knocking that idiot out and silencing him up,” said Shamrock. “It seems like Baroni is out there doing what he does best, he’s irritating people, and he has irritated me,” said Shamrock.

Baroni stated that he doesn’t believe he will be fighting in the UFC this fall. He did say that if he does return, he would love to fight Rich Franklin.

“Of course I’d like to fight [Rich] Franklin,” said Baroni. “He is the champ. To be the best, you have to beat the best. I know I match up real good with him, and I know if we fought, I would knock him out. The division is still real tough. They have a good group of middleweights right now over there.”

So what does Baroni have lined up that might actually happen? While he still has one fight left on his PRIDE contract, Baroni believes that he would be able to fight with another organization if he requested.

“Pride is good at letting their fighters fight in other organizations,” said Baroni. “Cage Rage is a great promotion, the biggest in England. I was supposed to fight there two times now, and it didn’t work out. I’m sure I’ll fight in Cage Rage in the near future.”

But here’s the best part, a possible bout between Baroni and Frank Shamrock?

“The guys at Strikeforce are hard at work trying to make it happen,” said Baroni about his proposed fight with Shamrock.

A fight between the two would be an absolute slugfest. Even though Baroni’s plans are different than what we originally thought, it’s going to be fun to see where the New York Bad Ass ends up in the coming months.